AUM becomes first university to join the hub

Montgomery’s one-year-old Internet exchange is ramping up to a 100-gigabyte service, a realm that local leaders think could attract the attention of major tech companies.

It’s already attracted some new attention locally. AUM announced Wednesday that it’s the first university to join the digital data hub known as MGMix. It’s a decision AUM expects to pay off for students right away and in the long term.

“When so many of our students are connected via their many devices — for schoolwork and entertainment, they’re going to enjoy the faster speeds,” AUM CIO Tobias Mense said. “And the MGMix means we’ll be able to offer a better experience without it costing us more.”

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In fact, AUM Chancellor Carl Stockton said the school’s data and bandwidth costs are expected to fall while speeds increase. “With higher education being so expensive, any time we can reduce our costs to help our students we’re going to do that,” Stockton said.

Stockton also praised the potential to grow cyber-related academic programs at the school through the MGMix peering agreement, as well as the possibility of sharing collaborative research data at high speeds with Air University and others who use the exchange.

Internet Service Providers, businesses, government entities and others connect to the hub, which launched last year as a central point for global data transmission. In less than a year it passed similar hubs in Miami, Nashville, Tennessee, and Jacksonville, Florida, to become the No. 2 busiest exchange in the Southeast in terms of data volume.

Its members include data giants like Hurricane Electric and Akamai Technologies alongside consumer providers like WOW! and Charter Communications.

Carl Barranco said the upgrade to 100-gig capacity will bring in more big names.

“I don’t think there’s any question that it’s going to get their attention,” said Barranco, the city’s cyber strategy coordinator. “Certainly it brings us to the playing field. We’re not just going to be a regular Internet exchange. We’re going to be much more than that.”

Local government, business and tech leaders announced the upgrade Wednesday at a new downtown coworking space geared toward tech entrepreneurs and creatives called CoWerx46. The 46 Commerce St. spot is in the middle of a soft launch but already has several tenants.

“Users are coming in and kicking the tires,” owner Boyd Stephens said. “We’re not being exclusive, but the look, taste, and feel of the space will resonate with software developers, graphic designers, people who generate copy (and) people who need quiet space.”

Tenants will pay $90 a month for 24/7 access to the space, which includes built-in amenities like high-speed internet as well as communal training sessions and other events.

“It’s going to get better, and better, and better,” Stephens said. “We’re working to fully build community, and we’re in a unique position where we can do that.”

Barranco was similarly upbeat about what’s ahead for Montgomery’s cyber push as a whole. He described a future of tech jobs and collaborative data exchange between institutions. AUM’s connection to the exchange could be the “catalyst” for the latter part of that, he said.

Lt. Gen. Steven Kwast expects these kinds of announcements to come more frequently and include even bigger names in the days ahead. The Air University president and commander compared the cyber movement to a "snowball" that's going to gain momentum quickly.